Sources for Images on African American History

The Prints and Photographs Division's substantial holdings of
photographs, prints, posters, and drawings include many works relating
to the history of blacks in America from the slavery period through
the civil rights era. There is no single, comprehensive list of
the holdings relating to African American history. It is best to
make a selection by visiting the Prints and Photographs Division
or by requesting images of specific people or events. Written requests
for such images can be answered when limited to no more than fifteen
items.

Catalog records for images relating to African American history can be found
in the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog.
Please note that the online catalog is not a comprehensive
listing of all of the images in the holdings of the Prints and Photographs
Division (the introductory page of the catalog describes its scope).

Because of changes in terminology over time and the various cataloging conventions
used in preparing catalog records for different collections, not all listings
for images relating to African Americans will be found by searching the term African
Americans.

Many records use the official Library of Congress subject heading African
Americans or the earlier heading Afro-Americans.

Records converted from early cataloging efforts use the term Negroes.

In addition, records can be found by searching topics, events, organizations,
and movements relating to African American history, such as: Fugitive
slaves, Integration, National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People, March
on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington, D.C., 1963.
In order to identify relevant terms when searching particular collections,
it is often helpful to browse the list of subject headings used in the catalog
records for that collection--an option offered on the collection search screen.

The following publications include several pictures from our files and can
thus be of help in locating images. Please note that only pictures credited
specifically to the Library of Congress can be ordered from us. In requesting
copies of these pictures, we suggest that you send a xerox of the image as
well as a complete citation for the book from which it was taken (including
page number).

Campbell, Edward D.C. Before Freedom Came: African-American Life in
the Antebellum South: To Accompany an Exhibition Organized by the Museum
of the Confederacy. Richmond: The Museum of the Confederacy; Charlottesville:
University Press of Virginia, 1991. [LC call number: E443.B44 1991 P&P Afr-
Amer]

Dornfeld, Margaret. The Turning Tide: From the Desegregation of the
Armed Forces to the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1948-1956). New York and
Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1995. [LC call number: E185.615.D654
1995 P&P Afr-Amer]

Harley, Sharon. The Timetables of African-American History: A Chronology
of the Most Important People and Events in African-American History.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. [LC call number: E185.H295 1995 P&P Afr-Amer]

Horton, James Oliver and Lois E. Horton, eds. A History of the African
American People: The History, Traditions & Culture of African Americans.
Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1997. [LC call number: E185.H56 1997
P&P Afr-Amer]

Hughes, Langston, Milton Meltzer, and C. Eric Lincoln. A Pictorial History
of Blackamericans. 4th rev. ed. of A Pictorial History of the
Negro in America. New York: Crown Publishers, [1973]. [LC call number:
E185.H83 1973 P&P Afr-Amer] (Many of the same images also published in: African
American History: Four Centuries of Black Life. New York: Scholastic, 1990.)
[LC call number: E185.H83 1990 P&P Afr- Amer]

Several Library of Congress exhibitions have drawn on Prints and Photographs
holdings relating to African American history. Recent exhibitions include an "object
list" that cites reproduction numbers needed for ordering photographic copies
of materials through the Library of Congress Duplication Services:

Reproductions may be ordered through the Library
of Congress Duplication Services when adequate identifying information
(a reproduction number or, if none exists, the call number of the original)
is provided. Requests for identifying information should be addressed to:
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540-4730.
Such requests are subject to the fifteen item search limit mentioned above.